Written and photographed by David Stubbs
Things seem to be coming to a head these days in the Jackson Hole backcountry.
Five feet of snow in the last week accompanied by strong winds have pushed avalanche conditions into the red zone, but the local talent continues to charge it, unwavering. The soft-spoken consensus: “We are going to need a local fatality to wake people up.” Snowmobilers dying in Afton and broken legs just don’t quite do it these days.
Can we travel safely in the backcountry in these conditions? My opinion is absolutely yes, but with a hell of a lot more expertise and caution than is being shown right now. I was a witness to the events that occurred Monday south of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort on a line called Rubberneck.
At approximately 12:15, I was hiking up the Four Pines bootpack when a local skier (to remain unnamed) dropped in to the line due west of us. I quickly dug for my camera, not for another extreme action shot, but because I felt I was about to witness some real insanity ending in tragedy. Too slow . . . the skier took what looked to be a couple 30+ foot airs, stuck the landings and skied out of it like a rock star. It was one of the most impressive, dumbest things I have ever witnessed. Fifteen minutes later while traversing towards Pinedale Canyon, we heard a large crack. Skier tracks led to a crown approximately eight feet deep on the exact line that was just skied.
Thirty backcountry travelers in the area responded and began a beacon search. Although a skier was seen sidestepping into the slope, no witnesses could confirm whether the skier was carried with the massive slide. After no beacon signal could be found, a helicopter was called in to drop off an avalanche dog and conduct a visual search. After two and half hours, nobody was found and the search was concluded. Just as we left the scene with the responding patrollers, the skier who triggered the slide called in to notify patrol that he was OK. (Thanks . . . wanker!)
The true testament to the problem played out during the search when the patroller interviewed the skier who had descended the line before the slide. He was the second skier to hit Rubberneck that day. JH patroller Mike Werner asked the skier, “Did you see the crown [approximately ten-feet-deep] from the slide that we released on the north ridge this morning? It was a similar aspect. That is a clue.”
“I did several ski cuts, the snow was still dry and dense,” responded the skier. “It felt pretty good to me.”
Well, what are you going to do, I thought. At least we did not find a dead body.
Yesterday morning I was told to check out the TGR forum and the back-slapping bro-brah bullshit that was going on in celebration of this line.
I got involved and made my point, but check it out for a nice look at the fundamental ignorance floating around.
We got problems: fist fights on the pass, not enough parking, poop in the skin track, too many people. As a photographer, I realize that I am part of the problem too, adding to the image that people chase, risking themselves and others in the process.
“Come on, it’s not so bad. At least no one is getting killed.”
Oh . . . wait . . .
Ha…exactly. Very well put. “The back-slapping bro-brah bullshit” is the exact reason I left Jackson…I can see how you guys deal with it down there. Way to many people, way to much attitude, a bunch of big city driving…you can have it. The place blows…
yeah, the social scene blows, but best skiing/backcountry/snow in the country. that’s not even up for discussion. it’s fact.
The title of your story is “the Deadly Circus”.
Can you tell me exactly who died? I’m confused.
But is it the best skiing/backcountry/snow when you have to ski it with 500 of your not so best friends? I NEVER see folks in the backcountry…there is no attitude, I can afford where I live. Shit, even own a house…and get this, there is a REAL community here…You do have a beautiful spot down there, but the summer tourists? Come on…Not even close to worth is in my opinion.
-An uncrowded spot in MT.
Well, i suppose young 20 somethings will be young 20 somethings.
in my years at the lame village [as lame village ray used to say] if we had carte blanche to go anywhere, i probably would have been making some of the same very questionable decisions. the only difference i suppose is the new generations infatuation with documenting it, talking about it ad nauseum, and showing it to all that can click on their mouse. The fact that these kids thought it so cool and important to post and pat each other on back says enough. I would have expected that the better part of valor [at least under the old code] would have been to keep your mouth shut and not draw attention. Afterall, when you get away with something, [in this instance not dying], you usually don’t brag about it. afterall, karma has a way of coming back and biting you in the ass. my have times changed.
G-
the only reason any photos were posted was because a previous thread about the slide that people asked to see what it looked like post slide… the thread linked was the one posted after everything had been discussed already at length in the previous one. And was posted by the photographer, not the skier.
(could and would I have liked to have photos of me skiing that? yeah would have been cool but not a big deal)
Also I am glade that Doug decided to write an article calling me out rather then just saying it to me when I talked to him there……..
Also, you should probably switch the quote, I explained what I did at the top and THEN he told me about the slide they set off….
The way you have it makes me sound arrogant and that I didn’t realize that I had just dodged a bullet…
Easy Locs,
For Jeff-Bro: Stay up north and stay off thesnaz. Your comments are not needed here. If you hate it so much down here then why do you need to visit us in cyberspace? Your “community” up there must really be doing it for ya’ if you are staring at Jackson Hole on the screen. Get real.
And David Stubbs, while you’re emotions are understandable, it would be reasonable (I think) to curtail your judgements on line. State the facts and leave it at that. I see young rock-stars pull off death-defying feats all the time, things I will never be capable of at my age (like skiing rubberneck.) It is too cliche for us old folks to say “you’re a dumbass.” The fact is, some of ‘em are and some of ‘em ain’t. You are not the judge, mother nature is.
The fact is, deep slab instability, which was evident on the north ridge slide, is a tricky thing to evaluate. As rubberneck demonstrated, multiple skiers or a bigger load (over 40 pounds of explosives of the N Ridge were required to trigger the slab) are often required to see any results. Too easy to be the “I told you so” guy, and no need.
That’s my 2 cents.
A quick follow up to my article and comments:
Photos and story were posted to increase awareness and show a lack thereof, not as a commentary on the “scene.” (I think it speaks for itself.) This is a blog not a news organization . . . editorial opinion is part of the beauty. My only “judgement” is for the skier who triggered the slide taking three hours to call in while a very spendy search effort took place . . . justified frustration I think. peace.
Stubbs,
I appreciate the article and have been blown away myself with the lines and boundaries being pushed the last handful of years. I feel that I am a fairly conservative skier yet enjoy exploring new terrain more than anything. The slide which I was caught in last week and broke my femur was on a fairly innocuous slope. Not to say that we did not have a few clues leading up to the slide, but for the most part I do not feel it was anything most of would avoid skinning up. I will not elaborate now on the details, but I plan to put together a detailed report with pics and a analysis of the snow profile and slide as my recovery progresses. I will most likely upload it on climbingskinsdirect.com.
Anyway, I hope everyone takes the time to note the conditions and not forget about the persisting depth hoar from early season. The bed surface of our slide was on the october/november rain/freeze crust and the depth hoar crystal sizes above and below it were remarkably large at about 7mm.
I hope everyone is enjoying their turns and being safe.
-Ryan
Great writing. It is amazing to me what is happening. My friends and I had a group of skiers let their dogs drop in off the pass ridge road on top of us on a CONSIDERABLE day. I said something to the skiers, who, all skied down TOGETHER. They gave me a “right on dude.” Same day saw 3 women skinning in line together. I asked if they were concerned about overloading the slope. Their response “Then we can’t talk and we have to yell to each other.” Then they skied Edelweiss, all 3 together. I asked about it and their response “Edelweiss CAN’T SLIDE.” Are you f#*&ing kidding me? The next day I had a group of guy’s skin up to me on an open slope. I asked them not to and asked if they were concerned about overload. They said “Not here, this gets so much traffic.” I just put the skintrack in the previous lap. We were the only 2 people out there until these,clueless,selfish, idiots showed up.
jeff we don’t miss you either you clown! Guess what you must be real sick to care and think that you already know everything! Gota back Judge not on this one! Yea I cant wait to get up to montucky and have some dumb ass with out beacon shovel or pack kick off a slide and kill my buddy and himself and Jah forbid two others that might not be found till spring! O yea there ain’t nobody in the backcountry in montana! GIVE ME A BREAK!
Ok, I’m glad I stirred the pot. Here is my last two cents…
All I’m saying this that folks in Jackson need to keep things in perspective and occasionally need to get knocked off their high horse. The skiing and access to it is epic…pretty undisputable really. But in my 25+ yrs of skiing I have come to realize that there is slightly more to life it then skiing…and once I realized that the skiing got even better. My 3 yrs down there were great until I realized how transient the community was, the ridiculous division between the served and the servers, and how I fit into it…or didn’t for that matter.
Average Annual Income in Teton County: $38, 598 (2004)
% of home owners: 42%
Average price of Condo/Townhome; $367,000.00 (2000)
Average Residential Lot: $929,800.00
How many people do you know making 38K a yr can afford a 350k mortgage? There is more to live then owning a house too I know…
In my own opinion, I like to live in a place where I feel like I have some ownership in it. Where the majority of folk controlling growth, land planning, zoning ordinances are like me…scratching by to make ends meet, have a vested interest in the natural resources of the area and share a common vision. Jackson is and always will be struggling with this…it’s a community of millionaires serviced by ski bums. And that’s fine…but it just creates a super funky community.
The majority of folk down in Jackson that I have come in contact with are amazing, healthy, and friendly folks and I hope it stays that way. But as Doug and David both have mentioned, sounds like things are/have come to head with the massive amount of folks down there and can that be sustained? Not in my opinion…
Totally off the subject of the post, but I wanted to clarify my previous “the place blows” comment…keep chargin’ and the bigger picture in mind when you start spouting off about how sick the place is, that’s all. Peace…
Cleary, the problem is (was) you, Jeff. Don’t project your own grievances onto the entire community. Don’t tell us to “keep the bigger picture in mind” when we start “spouting off about how sick the place is”. Plenty of people here, from produce-stocker skids to schoolteachers to small business owners to the wealthy elite absolutely LOVE it. Many of them have a pretty good notion of the “bigger picture”. I was lucky enough to grow up in Jackson, and plan on making the sacrafices to settle down there when my post-graduation rambling is done. Nobody’s antagonizing other places, so what gives you the right to “knock us off our high horses”?
I also went to Montana State and got a good dose of the secretive, elitist MT attitude in terms of climbing and skiing. I was inspired to ski peaks in the many ranges of the Greater Yellowstone and saw nothing in my many adventures down there that could come close to touching the accessiblity, amazing terrain, and the general “classic”ness of the Jackson area. So there’s the catch-22- you MT guys can carry on with this “keep it a secret” attitude and it’ll work, ‘cuz the climbing and the skiing’s just not as good!
Sorry to rant, but I just can’t abide folks dealing unjustified blows to my hometown.
I love Jackson, it is the best mountain I have ever skied, it is absolutely beautiful on a nice day, That’s why I live here and ski hard everyday…
classic… shit goes down and the finger points. I wonder what mother nature would say if she could write a note for all of us to read. I truly wonder.
I have certainly high fived ( and back slapped)my bros and gals when out in the hills either getting rad or getting deep but I guess it’s different for the “bro bras”.
That line was incredible!… great link up to the cornice/ bottom air! Why would one not celebrate that!?
It’s crazy that shit can happen and a full story with photos is up the next day. I liked reading G’s statement but times have changed.
I see it and hear it much in this community, people talking shit about TGR, pro athletes, and photogs… it’s easy to do, they are in the spot light. But usually that’s the way it goes, some people are involved by talking shit and the other end of course is the people out doing shit.
Yes, the avy detail was crunchy but that’s mother nature saying “f-you” and us humans need a way to vent, so has become all of this.
Good job to all those who engaged the search and the heli team. The guy who didn’t call the avy in probally learned something and hopefully we all do too. now go slap yourself on the back. good human
Well written, Stubbs. Any of these weirdo’s can interpret your words to mean the opposite if they want, but it appears your intent was clear and truthful. Thanks for the awareness effort. I, too, witnessed most of the event.
Speaking of Deadly Circus, how ’bout the circus that happened on Teton Pass on Monday morning??? I posted this on another local blog, but it looks like it belongs here, too, for the sake of awareness.
———–
Indeed, let’s talk a little about respect, or rather, lack thereof. For a good model of complete and utter lack of respect for the backcountry, other skiers and Teton Pass commuters, let’s look at the individual who triggered the avalanche in Twin Slides on Mt. Glory on Monday morning. This guy (or gal) did the following:
1. Disregarded the BT avalanche report of a HIGH danger at both mid and upper elevations.
2. Decided to snowboard in a known avalanche path. The simple fact that the name of this run has the word “slide” in its name should have been some indication to its avalanche potential, but given he went down it at all under those conditions illustrates his complete lack of forethought.
3. Obviously didn’t think (or didn’t care) about people below him. I.e., skiers walking up the highway back to the parking lot, the passengers on the START bus and other commuters (like myself) on the roadway who were just trying to get to work safely. Driving Teton Pass twice a day is dangerous enough WITHOUT the prospect irresponsible backcountry users and trailer-hauling poachers.
4. Didn’t think about the fact that his actions would cause thousands of dollars in lost wages to the aforementioned commuters (like myself) who couldn’t get to work, not to mention endanger the safety of the WYDOT workers and Teton County Sheriff’s deputies who had to clean up his mess in whiteout conditions.
So yes, there just isn’t enough respect on Teton Pass these days. There’s plenty of words I’ve refrained from using to describe this individual, none of them really that nice, some quite profane. The above points speak for themselves. There should be some consequence for acting so foolish and making such poor decisions. The kicker is that this probably could’ve been avoided, and simply amounts to is a lack of respect and responsibility. I fear that someday sooner than later these types of irresponsible decisions will cause someone innocent to get hurt, or worse.
Speaking of Deadly Circus, how ’bout the circus that happened on Teton Pass on Monday morning??? I posted this on another local blog, but it looks like it belongs here, too, for the sake of awareness.
———–
Indeed, let’s talk a little about respect, or rather, lack thereof. For a good model of complete and utter lack of respect for the backcountry, other skiers and Teton Pass commuters, let’s look at the individual who triggered the avalanche in Twin Slides on Mt. Glory on Monday morning. This guy (or gal) did the following:
1. Disregarded the BT avalanche report of a HIGH danger at both mid and upper elevations.
2. Decided to snowboard in a known avalanche path. The simple fact that the name of this run has the word “slide” in its name should have been some indication to its avalanche potential, but given he went down it at all under those conditions illustrates his complete lack of forethought.
3. Obviously didn’t think (or didn’t care) about people below him. I.e., skiers walking up the highway back to the parking lot, the passengers on the START bus and other commuters (like myself) on the roadway who were just trying to get to work safely. Driving Teton Pass twice a day is dangerous enough WITHOUT the prospect irresponsible backcountry users and trailer-hauling poachers.
4. Didn’t think about the fact that his actions would cause thousands of dollars in lost wages to the aforementioned commuters (like myself) who couldn’t get to work, not to mention endanger the safety of the WYDOT workers and Teton County Sheriff’s deputies who had to clean up his mess in whiteout conditions.
So yes, there just isn’t enough respect on Teton Pass these days. There’s plenty of words I’ve refrained from using to describe this individual, none of them really that nice, some quite profane. The above points speak for themselves. There should be some consequence for acting so foolish and making such poor decisions. The kicker is that this probably could’ve been avoided, and simply amounts to a lack of respect and responsibility. I fear that someday sooner than later these types of irresponsible decisions will cause someone innocent to get hurt, or worse.
I hate to say it, but this stuff is going to happen regardless. look at where we live, the terrain is huge and the amount of people getting out there is growing every year. I think out of all the places I’ve skiied, jackson has the strongest commmunity for avalanche awareness and people that know what’s up. Generaly, I think the Teton community has done well for the amount of terrain exposure and people going out. There’s always going to be the gapers that just dont belong and questionable route selection during high hazard, but no one can stop it. The best tool is education. When I see folks out there that don’t belong, I bite my lip and do my best
to tell them what I can…show them the safest way down or in a few cases, I’ve told them to follow their footsteps back the way they came instead of screaming at them and throwing a fit about it.
Once, a guy followed me and some friends into the NW passage with trail map in hand and a pair of blue jeans. I wanted to unleash on him, but i kept it cool and he turned around and hiked out. Told him he needed avy gear and how to use it, a partner, and mostly to know where he was going and not to just follow people out of bounds. I think that guy is now more likley to think about his actions by knowing a little information compared to someone yelling at him and crushing his day. gawd, i sound like a mom, but hey just some advice to help with the circus.
Gimmie, you’re right to say no one can stop it–it being disrespect for high avy danger and poor routefinding–but “they” can sure try. I’ve heard of possible WYDOT closures of Pass-top parking in an effort to limit the chances of skier-triggered slides affecting vehicle travel. We need more people like Jay Pistono (or at least more people acting like him) up there entering into dialogues with other skiers. This kind of grassroots education can be a step in preventing stuff like this from “going down”. Which it sounds like you’re advocating.
Bones, instead of rushing to judge and villify this fellow, maybe you could think about suggesting ways to help alleviate this problem in the future? “Lack of respect and responsibility” are vague ideas at best.
Nick - Lack of respect and responsibility certainly weren’t ideas, simply a statement of fact. Can you think of a good, responsible reason this “fellow” would snowboard that line in those conditions?
Suggestions to help alleviate the problem would include simply reading the four points I made in my previous post, then doing the exact opposite. A no-brainer for any backcountry outing if you ask me, but I guess having shit for brains is worse than having no brain.
rogers pass in B.C. is a good example of human control in massive amounts of avy terrain. They simply dont allow people to ride avy terrain that falls anywhere near the highway when there’s any question of snow stability. They also have avy bunkers that cover every avy path on the pass.
Motorists are always in danger of exposure while travling teton pass whether poeple are riding road shots or not. The answer for the long term scheme, is to build tunnels and designate areas that cant be skiied during high avy danger. This would cost a bunch of money, but we spend billions a day on killing peoples, can we spend a little on making the pass safer and more effecient for snow contol?
It seems like we would only need three tunnels, glory, twin and first slides? how much would that cost in comparison to 50 years of avy control/ snow removal? We have already begun by building the stagecoach tunnel which has saved many victims from being bored… I bet my van will fit… saahwheeet! watch out for all those childern that use it.
Gimme - I certainly agree that pass commuters are always in danger of avalanches whether or not people are skiing/snowboarding road shots. But that really was my point - driving the pass is dangerous enough without people making foolish decisions that put others at risk. Just like driving the pass is dangerous enough without Peterbilt trailer-hauling dickwads breaking the “no-trailer” law. I only wish backcountry users who cause such avalanches on high-risk days could be fined like their trailer-poaching counterparts.
A little common sense goes a long way.
Bones, I’m not trying to defend the felllow by any stretch. I just think that harsh judgements written in the manner of your original post only add more fuel to the fire.
Sure, your four points are no brainers for you, me, and most backcountry users. But for many, they’re still not. Obviously we’re not doing (enough of) something.
Two points:
1) To Jeff from MT: Three whole years you were committed to our community? And you know sooo much about us. I hope Montana is treating you well.
2) To Nick: I agree with you that we are not doing enough of something. We need to continue reaching out with avy education and awareness to folks in the community. I agree with Gimme that if we could reach out in a way that is RESPECTFUL and HELPFUL, we will create a community of which we are proud. Leave your self-rightous attitude at home. The mountains are there for all of us to enjoy.
Jen,
Being a Wyoming native, all I can say is thanks…MT is treating me so well.
Case-n-point to my whole argument…look at the blog post for today, “We Need a Plan”. The 20-35 y.o. crowd gets steam rolled in Jackson. Millionaires run that town…Good Luck.
Cheers,
Jeff